Republican legislators have spent the past 12 years railing against the Voter Protection Act, but the reviled ballot measure that tied lawmakers’ hands was a largely self-inflicted and ironically unnecessary wound.

The chorus of lawmakers calling for an overhaul of the Voter Protection Act quieted to a low murmur in 2011, but supporters say the dormant issue will be back on the Legislature’s agenda next year.

Several Republican legislators said they will revive their plans to change Proposition 105, the 1998 ballot measure that strictly limits the Legislature’s ability to tamper with voter-approved measures.

Barring any surprises, Gov. Jan Brewer is expected to call the Legislature into special session in the next few days.
But her 1-cent sales tax hike won't be on the table - at least not this time.
Still up in the air is the possibility of doing a second special session, possibly in December, for another round of cuts and potentially approving revenue generating options.

***UPDATED AT 8:45 P.M.***
After about seven months of trying, Republican leaders arrived at the Capitol on Aug. 12 with hopes that they had finally corralled enough votes in the Senate, including the support of a Democrat, to pass a budget for fiscal year 2010. But all that evaporated when a senator whose support Republicans were counting on was absent from the floor.